


United

by meridian_rose (meridianrose)



Category: Revenge (TV)
Genre: Christmas, Friendship, Gen, family by choice
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-11-29
Updated: 2013-11-29
Packaged: 2018-01-02 23:29:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,339
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1062945
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/meridianrose/pseuds/meridian_rose
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Emily and Nolan exchange Christmas gifts and take a moment to acknowledge their friendship, their past, and the present.</p>
            </blockquote>





	United

**Author's Note:**

  * For [ashcat](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ashcat/gifts).



_"Christmas is the season of joy, of holiday greetings exchanged, of gift-giving ,and of families united."  
\- Norman Vincent Peale_

"Still working on Christmas Eve?"

Nolan looked up from his laptop. "It's a hard life being me."

Emily crossed the room, heels sounding on the floor. Her heavy wool coat was damp with melted snowflakes and she brushed at her elegantly coiffured hair with one gloved hand. The other hand held a silver gift bag and she lifted the bag and placed it by Nolan's elbow.

"I have to go to church with the Graysons tonight, and then there's breakfast with the family and a business dinner. So I wanted you to have this tonight." She gestured to the bag with one glove as she pulled off the other. "Merry Christmas."

Nolan slid out of his chair. Mindful of his duties as host, he poured them a brandy each and handed one to Emily.

"Merry Christmas. May all your wishes come true, and the Graysons finally get their comeuppance."

Emily nodded and they both drank. Nolan bent down and opened a drawer. He pulled out a small box, wrapped in gold paper, and handed it to Emily. "What do you get for the revenge seeker who has everything?" he asked. "It was a difficult choice. Open it."

Emily used one manicured nail to pull up a corner of tape and soon removed the paper. She opened the box. "Nolan…"

"I know, I know, you have a pair of earrings for every night of the year. But these aren't diamonds. They're tracking devices. So you can wear them when you're hell-bent on putting yourself in danger, and I won't lose you. Or, and I fully expect this to happen at some point, you can slip one of them into someone else's bag or pocket and I can follow them for you."

Emily closed the box with a snap and slid it into her pocket. "That's very thoughtful. Thank you. Now it's your turn."

Nolan lifted a neatly gift wrapped box from the bag. He tore open the shiny paper to reveal a cardboard and plastic box. His mouth fell open. Emily gave him an indulgent smile.

"They don't make Nolan Ross action figures," she said, adding, "yet. You may want to remedy that. But I thought Iron Man might be the next best thing. After all, Tony Stark is a genius billionaire philanthropist. There are some similarities."

Nolan laughed and carefully settled the collector's edition on the table. It was very rare and expensive, not beyond Emily's budget of course, but it must have taken some doing to find it.

"Thank you," he said. "It's perfect. Had I known I would have gotten you a figure so we could have fought crime together. I mean, our figures could. We do fight crime together. Sort of."

Emily raised an eyebrow. "You would open the box? I'm shocked, Nolan. Stunned at your rebelliousness. I have it on good authority that you'll devalue that figure significantly if you so much as breathe too hard on the box."

Nolan made a dismissive gesture. "Mint in box is fine for collectors, but I'd rather play with him. It. Um. You know what I mean." Nolan rolled his eyes at himself. This was no time to get distracted thinking about Robert Downey Junior. "So, you're no Pepper Potts. You're more…Black Widow?" He tapped at his chin thoughtfully. "Or maybe Wonder Woman."

She shrugged. "If you say so."

"Well when I've decided, I'll have to get you a figure in the sales, and we can have a play date."

Emily laughed and then stopped, suddenly. She drank down the rest of the brandy.

"Ems?"

"I was just thinking. I can't imagine Daniel wanting a play date. Or an action figure. Or being so…"

"Silly?"

"Childlike. Innocent." Emily shook her empty glass in frustration, finally settling on, "Playful. You love things. You get deeply invested in things. You love life."

Nolan snatched the empty glass before it came to harm and refilled it. "Daniel doesn't love life?"

Emily spread her hands. "I don't know. Daniel says he loves me, but he doesn't have real passion in his voice when he says it. And I don't know what joys he finds in life. Things that make him happy. Not like with you. Or Jack." She sighed. "The way he smiles makes me feel glad. Happy that _he's_ happy. It's not like with Daniel. He's never happy in a way that makes me feel it too." 

What did she expect, Nolan thought. She and Daniel had nothing in common, and everything Daniel thought he knew was a lie. It was hardly going to be a relationship that would make Cupid proud or the stars weep. Emily couldn't feel any passion because there was none, certainly nothing that was real. Nolan handed her the glass once more. "That's because you don't love him." Not the way she loved Jack. Nolan wondered though if love would be enough for them to build a relationship on the ruins of lies and deceit.

She met his gaze but she couldn't refute what was so obviously the truth. "I have to pretend to, just for a while longer."

There would be no arguing with her, no trying to reason that there were lines she should not cross in her desire for vengeance. So Nolan sighed and said, "Well, a superhero should be able to pretend. Living a double life is a key part of the lifestyle. Except for Tony Stark. Everyone knows he's Iron Man. The man can't keep a secret to save his life."

That brought a smile back to her lips even as Nolan added hastily, " _I_ , of course, will take your secrets to the grave."

Emily froze and he wished he'd chosen less fatalistic words. There had already been so many tragedies and traumas resulting from her quest for revenge that death wasn't so far fetched a possibility.

"I'm sorry," she said, putting one hand on his shoulder. "For everything. Your kidnapping, Padma, the jail time –"

"Sssh," Nolan said. Not everything was her fault, and the parts that were – well, he'd insisted on being in her life, whatever the consequences. He gave her a charming smile. "What's some death and mayhem between friends?"

"I will make it up to you." There was a flash of steel in her eyes that made Nolan groan inwardly. He wished she didn't have such a sense of retribution. He often fantasised about her giving up on exposing the Graysons – they could take a cruise together and criticise each other's choice in holiday romances and drink tropical cocktails and take touristy photographs in front of landmarks. Emily would be happy and safe, and he could stop worrying about her. It would remain a fantasy however. There was nothing he could say to convince her to stop her vendetta, but the last thing he wanted was for her to take on another burden in his name.

Impulsively, he took her hand. "I want nothing from you except for you to be careful, Emily. You're like family. I know you have to walk into the lion's den and wait for a chance to strike, but I couldn't bear it if anything happened to you."

She stayed silent and then nodded. She bent over and kissed him on one cheek. "I'm always careful. How about, if I can get five minutes away from the Graysons between Christmas and New Year, I'll come over, we can watch an Iron Man movie and you can tell me everything that's wrong with it."

Nolan nodded. "I'd like that." He released her hand and raised his glass. "One more toast. To our lost loved ones." Then, more specifically, "To David Clarke."

They drank, remembering her father and Nolan's father figure. The reason Nolan was rich and the reason Amanda had turned herself into Emily Thorne. They'd both give up everything to have him back in their lives.

At least though, they had each other.


End file.
